


Worst Substitute Ever

by Mothfluff



Series: thursday nights and friday mornings [1]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series), Perc'ahlia - Fandom
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Student/Teacher, Percy doesn't know how to flirt and Vex is too angry to notice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-30
Updated: 2017-10-30
Packaged: 2019-01-26 16:12:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12561208
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mothfluff/pseuds/Mothfluff
Summary: An 8am friday class is already straining. Facing it with a hangover is worse. Having to deal with a snarky substitute is the worst. No, wait - the fact that she can't stop thinking about this snarky substitute is the worst, Vex decides.(Mostly Vex's point of view dealing with this annoying teacher showing up to her class and teasing her and goddamnit why can't she stop staring at his hair and his face and)





	Worst Substitute Ever

**Author's Note:**

> Modern AU, trying my best to keep the backstories/relationships/situations connected to the original.
> 
> Introductory Part 1 of I don't know how many, really, this could go on for a while or be ended really quickly...

Vex groaned, rubbed her temples, and downed her coffee in one go. It was hard to remember, at 8am on a friday, why the hell she signed up for this engineering class. She'd joined the makeshift day trade school / community college newly opened in town in order to become a park ranger or something similar, she scolded herself, not take ridiculously difficult classes at hours that weren't even supposed to exist. But the advisor had sounded so chipper while explaining that she should try broadening her horizons, maybe take an unusual class to see if she liked it, considering it was _free of charge_ if she continued her regular studies – free things always caught Vex's attention. And the description of the class had sounded far, far more interesting than it actually turned out to be, and now she was signed up and if she missed more than 3 classes she'd get in trouble and she couldn't face the idea of being thrown out of a not-even-really-a-proper-school for skipping a class she didn't even need. So she downed her coffee every friday morning, sat in the very last row and hatefully stared at everyone who so much as tried to make eye contact while the oldest teacher she'd ever seen droned on about something or other at the front.

Yet, even at her most tired and unattentive, she couldn't help listening in to the conversations next to her. Eavesdropping, it seemed, was something her slightly paranoid brother had successfully trained her to do on instinct.

„I wonder if Mr. Myers even shows up. I heard he was out sick all week.“ the girl in front of her whispered to her neighbour.

„Maybe they'll just let us go, then!“

Vex perched up at the very idea. Go back home? Go back to bed, where Trinket was undoubtedly still snoring? Have the whole flat to herself for the day while Vax was out working? It seemed to good to be true.

 

And it was, because seconds later the door opened and in stepped – not Mr. Myers, the rotund old teacher, but someone much younger, someone Vex had never seen at the college before, but someone she gave a very, very close look-over right now.

He was tall and standing up straight like a soldier, and lanky to some extent, and while his clothes were impeccable and well-fitting, Vex could tell that they were definitely from the cheapest rack of the shop. His hair was bright white, and she wondered whether it was bleached on purpose or if someone could turn that white that early on in life for real. It certainly didn't look like he otherwise cared much for his hairstyle, messy as it was. His face was almost as scrunched up as hers at this early hour, while his bright blue eyes behind gold-rimmed glasses scanned over some papers in his hands.

„This is Engineering Basics 101, right? I'm not in yet another wrong classroom?“ His voice was low, but it still managed to ring through the entire room somehow. A few students in the front rows nodded their heads.

„Ah, excellent. Well, Mr. Myers is out sick, as some of you might be aware, so I am your substitute for the day. My name is-“ his strong voice seemed to falter for a second. „Mr. De Rolo, but I suppose Percival will be fine as well.“

With that, he sat up shop at the front desk to begin, and Vex – now wide awake – was starting to hope that maybe it would turn into an actually enjoyable 90 minutes.

\--------------------------------

It was not enjoyable. It was not enjoyable in the least. Oh, sure, „Mr. De Rolo but I suppose Percival will be fine“, whom everyone still called Mr. De Rolo, managed to explain things that Mr. Myers hadn't been able to get into their heads for the whole semester. He even cracked the odd joke inbetween, most of which were so dark that half the class didn't know if they were allowed to laugh. But all Vex could do was sit there and stare at him, so much rage in her eyes it was surprising his white hair hadn't caught fire yet from the glare.

It had barely been 5 minutes into class when „Percival“ had decided to make himself a mortal enemy of Vex.

„Is the last row mentally present, or just physically?“ He'd snickered and startled Vex out of what was a pretty dozy stare at his cheeks and the stubble there, trying to make out whether it was as white as his hair.

„What?“ She grunted after being caught unprepared.

„It's just that I've been trying to take attendance, and I'm afraid for that I need you all to give me your names. That includes the last row, as perfect a hiding place as it might be.“

She coughed. She was the only one in the last row, as per usual.

„So, your name?“ He sounded less jovial than he did before.

„Vex.“ Was all she grumbled, and it caused his eyebrows – more grey-ish than white, she noticed – to rise up.

„Vex and..?“

„Just Vex.“

His eyes trailed back down to his paper, scanning the names.

„Ah, Vex'ahlia, is that right?“

„No. Just Vex.“ She was glad he hadn't tried to read out her surname, as well, or she would've had a hard time not throwing her binder at him.

„Well. Just Vex, then.“ He smirked – how dare he smirked at her like that, all tousled hair and blue eyes and... – and continued asking the rest of the students for their names.

That could've been it. An annoying start to the day, sure, something for Vex to whine over at dinner with her brother, but nothing majorly disrupting her mood.

 

If only. If only stupid Mr. De Douchecanoe hadn't insisted on calling her 'Just Vex' from then on. If he hadn't insisted on calling her all the time, making her come up to the front to write some stupid equations on the blackboard, making her answer questions she'd barely listened to, making her feel like a fool in front of the class who'd already been suspiciously disinterested in their always tired classmate.

If only he hadn't called her 'Just Vex' one last time, while everyone was storming out of the room and she'd tried to slip by as quickly as possible. She groaned, almost inaudibly, and turned back to his desk.

„Yes, Mr. De Rolo, what is it, Mr. De Rolo, were you aware that class is over now, Mr. De Rolo.“ Saying his name might have sounded a bit more mocking each time, but his face stayed neutral.

„I just wanted to make sure that you were doing okay with today's material. If there's any questions... you seemed a bit out of it, is all. I wouldn't want you to fall behind when Mr. Myers comes back.“

„I'm fine. I got it all, thanks.“ She sighed. „It's early friday morning, I'm sure I'm allowed to be a bit 'out of it'.“ Framing it with sarcastic finger quotes almost elicited another one of his charming smirks from him, Vex noticed, but was quickly pulled back to reality when he continued being anything but charming.

 

„Well, maybe if you didn't spend your thursday nights drinking with men twice your age, you'd be more awake in friday morning classes.“

Her inhale was audible. She tried to focus her mind on the most insulting yet passive-agressively friendly reply she could think of, but the look on his face as he stared back down at his notes threw her off. He looked like he wanted to hide under the desk, clearly aware of how incredibly rude he'd just been. She couldn't help but stare as she noticed a twinge of red on the tip of his ears and on his cheeks. He cleared his throat.

„I'm sorry, Vex, that was... very inappropiate. I shouldn't have said it. I... I apologise.“ He cleared his throat again. „And I'm sure if you do end up having any questions Mr. Myers will be able to help you.“

He was hoping the conversation would be over with that, she realised, and she was more than happy to indulge him, storming out of the room faster than necessary.

\---------------------------

„I mean, can you believe that? Making me look like an idiot in front of the whole class. He singled me out! This is discrimination, I think. I could report him.“

Vax barely managed to escape the chopsticks his sister was furiously waving around. He took another bite of his Pad Thai while his sister ranted on, as she had for the entire dinner on their couch so far. He'd tried not to mention yet that her rant about the 'most horrid substitute ever' had begun with an at least 4 minute long, very vivid description of said substitute.

„And then, at the end? Mr. De Rrrolo“ she rolled the R as mockingly as possible, and Vax noted down the 23rd time she'd said this guy's name by now - „at the end, Mr. De Rolo (24th now) has the gall to call me up to his desk, _again,_ and ask me if I understood everything because I seemed oh so tired and he didn't want me to fall behind, oh poor poor me.“

„Well.“ He finally managed to get a word in. „Maybe he was actually trying to make sure. He sounds like an ass, definitely, but at least he tried to be a good teacher somewhat.“

She only snorted and angrily chewed up a piece of chicken. „As if! It was just another chance to mock me. He made a really rude comment on how I shouldn't be out for hours with old men and getting drunk and that I should focus on my studies like a good little girl.“

Vax could tell when his sister was over-dramatising a quote, but that was not what his mind focussed on right now.

„Wait. How did he know that?“ His paranoia regarding his sister's safety was taking over, quickly.

Vex looked up from her take-out, somewhat confused. „What do you mean?“

„How did he know you were out drinking yesterday?“ Sure, Scanlan had offered them a pint after they worked on his gig yesterday, and maybe one pint had turned into a few more – they'd learned to take the chance when someone else was offering to pay. But the venue was at the other end of town, and he didn't recall seeing a 'white-haired, golden-glasses wearing lamp-post sized prick' as Vex had described it.

„He probably just guessed. I mean, it's hard to hide a hangover effectively.“ Vex seemed to calm down as soon as Vax got riled up – it always worked that way, one of them trying to stay focussed for the other.

„Then how did he know you were out with older men like Scanlan? That's a pretty specific thing to guess.“

„Maybe he just assumed I was that type of troublemaker.“ She got angry again, but Vex's furrowed brow was stronger.

„I don't like that. How did he know? I don't like it.“

„Oh, Vax. You know, whatever. It doesn't even matter.“ She tried to calm him down now, completely ignoring how much she'd ranted before. „I'm not gonna have to deal with him ever again, probably. He's just a substitute. I've never even seen him at the school before.“

 

Vax didn't seem content with that answer, but they dropped the subject. She tried to focus her mind on other things, on Vax's stories from his shift at the hospital, not on the stupid adorable annoying funny asshole. She tried to steer Vax's thoughts away too, not wanting him to worry about her for no reason.

She certainly didn't mention the e-mail she got from Mr. Myers the next day, informing the students that he was unable to continue the class this semester and that his substitute was taking over indefinitely.

Turns out she'd have to deal with Mr. De Rolo a whole lot now.

 


End file.
